Gaming machine

ABSTRACT

A plurality of reels which variably display a plurality of types of symbols when a base game is started are provided. The symbols to be stopped in the base game are decided, and it is decided for each of a plurality of the reels whether or not a feature game is to be generated. Based on a result of the decision, the varying and displaying of the reels are sequentially stopped while differentiating a stopping time of each thereof from the others. At this time, in a case of determining that the feature game is decided to be generated for the reel in which the varying and displaying are stopped previously, a CPU starts the feature game while continuing the varying and displaying of the other reels.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon the prior Japanese Patent Application No.2005-159193, filed on May 31, 2005, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a gaming machine such as a slotmachine, and particularly, to a gaming machine which executes a featuregame as well as a base game.

2. Description of the Related Art

Heretofore, for example, there has been a slot machine as a gamingmachine. A game of the slot machine is started in such a manner thatcoins are inserted into the slot machine or the coins are bet on theslot machine within a range of the credited number of coins, and that aplayer operates a start lever, a spin button, and the like. When thegame is started in the slot machine, a plurality of reels in each ofwhich a plurality of symbols are drawn on a surface start to be rotated,and thereafter, the reels are stopped in a predetermined order. A slotmachine has been known, which, if feature games are acquired at thistime, subsequently makes a shift to the feature games, and executes thevariety of feature games (Patent document: Japanese Patent Laid-OpenPublication No. 2005-081015).

However, even if a trigger symbol of such a feature game appears on thereel of which rotation is stopped, when other reels are under varyingand displaying, the related gaming machine described above cannot shiftto the feature game concerned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is summarized to be a gaming machinewhich includes: a plurality of variable display units (for example, afirst reel 22-1, a second reel 22-2, a third reel 22-3); a stoppingsymbol decision unit (for example, a CPU 50, S53); a stopping controlunit (for example, the CPU 50, S4, S5, S6); and a second game generatingunit (for example, the CPU 50, S21, S31, S41). The above-describedplurality of variable display units variably display a plurality oftypes of symbols when a first game (for example, a base game) isstarted. The above-described stopping symbol decision unit decides thesymbols to be stopped in the first game, and decides for each of thevariable display units whether or not a second game (for example, afeature game) is to be generated. The above-described stopping controlunit stops varying and displaying of the above-described respectivevariable display units based on a result of the decision by theabove-described stopping symbol decision unit. The above-describedsecond game generating unit starts the second game for the variabledisplay unit while continuing the varying and displaying of the othervariable display units, when determining that the second game is decidedto be generated, by the stopping symbol decision unit, for the variabledisplay unit of which varying and displaying are stopped.

Moreover, the gaming machine may further include: a selection objectdisplay unit (for example, the CPU 50, S22, s33, S34, S43, S45, S46)which, when the second game is started, displays a plurality ofselection objects (for example, invasion ports) to be selected by theplayer on a region that is not overlapped with the above-describedvariable display units under the varying and displaying.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slot machine according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is longitudinal cross sectional views of a lower liquid crystaldisplay and a reel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3(a) to (j) are exploded perspective views of the lower liquidcrystal display according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing a control system of theslot machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing a liquid crystal drivingcircuit of the lower liquid crystal display of the slot machine shown inFIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is explanatory views schematically showing background imagesdisplayed on an upper liquid crystal display and the lower liquidcrystal display in a case of playing a first mission game according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is explanatory views schematically showing background imagesdisplayed on the upper liquid crystal display and the lower liquidcrystal display in a case of playing a second mission game according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is explanatory views schematically showing background imagesdisplayed on the upper liquid crystal display and the lower liquidcrystal display in a case of playing a final mission game according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a game control performed inthe slot machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a sortition process according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart regarding determination of a feature game of afirst reel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart regarding determination of a feature game of asecond reel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart regarding determination of a feature game of athird reel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A description will be made below in detail of a gaming machine accordingto the present invention based on an embodiment in which the presentinvention is applied to a slot machine while referring to the drawings.

A description will be made of a schematic construction of the slotmachine according to the embodiment of the present invention based onFIG. 1 to FIG. 5. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the slot machine.

In FIG. 1, a slot machine 1 includes a cabinet 2 which forms theentirety thereof. On a front upper portion of the cabinet 2, an upperliquid crystal display 3 is provided. On a front center portion of thecabinet 2, a lower liquid crystal display 4 is provided. The upperliquid crystal display 3 is composed of a generally used liquid crystaldisplay. The lower liquid crystal display 4 is composed of a so-calledliquid crystal transparent display. A detailed structure of the lowerliquid crystal display 4 will be described later.

Under the lower liquid crystal display 4, an operation table 5 whichprotrudes frontward is provided. On the operation table 5, from the mostleft side thereof, there are arranged a CHANGE button 6, a CASH-OUTbutton 7, and a HELP button 8. A coin insertion portion 9 and a billinsertion portion 10 are provided on the right side of the HELP button8. On the front side of the operation table 5, from the left sidethereof, there are arranged a 1-BET button 11, a SPIN/REPEAT-BET button(hereinafter, referred to as a “SPIN button”) 12, a 3-BET button 13, anda 5-BET button 14.

A coin payout port 15 and a coin receiving portion 16 which receivescoins paid out from the coin payout port 15 are provided on a lowerportion of the cabinet 2. The CHANGE button 6 is a button depressed inthe case of changing, into coins, a bill inserted into the billinsertion portion 10. The changed coins are paid out from the coinpayout port 15 to the coin receiving portion 16. A CHANGE switch 62 tobe described later is additionally provided to the CHANGE button 6, anda switching signal is outputted from the CHANGE switch 62 to a CPU 50based on the depression of the CHANGE button 6.

The CASH-OUT button 7 is a button depressed when a base game is ended.When the CASH-OUT button 7 is depressed, coins acquired in the game arepaid back from the coin payout port 15 to the coin receiving portion 16.A CASH-OUT switch 63 to be described later is additionally provided tothe CASH-OUT button 7, and a switching signal is outputted from theCASH-OUT switch 63 to the CPU 50 based on the depression of the CASH-OUTbutton 7.

The HELP button 8 is a button depressed when an operation method and thelike of the game are unknown. When the HELP button 8 is depressed,various pieces of help information are displayed on the upper liquidcrystal display 3 and the lower liquid crystal display 4. A HELP switch64 to be described later is additionally provided to the HELP button 8,and a switching signal is outputted from the HELP switch 64 to the CPU50 based on the depression of the HELP button 8.

A coin sensor 65 to be descried later is disposed in the coin insertionportion 9. When the coins are inserted into the coin insertion portion9, a coin detection signal is outputted to the CPU 50 through the coinsensor 65. A bill sensor 66 is disposed in the bill insertion portion10. When the bill is inserted into the bill insertion portion 10, a billdetection signal is outputted to the CPU 50 through the bill sensor 66.

The 1-BET button 11 is a button in which a bet is made one by one everydepression thereof, and the maximum number of depressions thereof forthe bet is three. A 1-BET switch 59 to be described later isadditionally provided to the 1-BET button 11. When the 1-BET button 11is depressed, a switching signal is outputted from the 1-BET switch 59to the CPU 50 based on the depression thereof.

The SPIN button 12 is a button for starting rotations of reels 22 to bedescribed later based on depression thereof in order to start the gamewith a current number of bets or a previous number of bets. A SPINswitch 58 to be described later is additionally provided to the SPINbutton 12. When the SPIN button 12 is depressed, a switching signal isoutputted form the SPIN switch 58 to the CPU 50 based on the depressionthereof. With regard to the number of bets capable of being bet by thedepression of the SPIN button, 1, 2, 3 and 5 bets can exist.

The 3-BET button 13 is a button for starting the game on a 3-bet basisbased on depression thereof. A 3-BET switch 60 to be described later isadditionally provided to the 3-BET button 13. When the 3-BET switch 60is depressed, a switching signal is outputted therefrom to the CPU 50.The 5-BET button 14 is a button depressed in the case of starting thegame on a 5-bet basis based on depression thereof and the case ofstarting a bonus game to be described later based on depression thereof.A 5-BET switch 61 to be described later is additionally provided to the5-BET button 14, and based on depression thereof, a switching signal isoutputted from the 5-BET switch 61 to the CPU 50.

In an inside of the coin payout port 15, a coin detecting unit 73composed of a sensor and the like is disposed. The coin detecting unit73 detects the number of coins paid out from the coin payout port 15.

Onto a side surface (right side surface in FIG. 1) of the cabinet 2, astart lever 17 is attached freely rotatably within a predetermined anglerange. A start switch 57 is additionally provided to the start lever 17.When the start lever 17 is rotated, a switching signal is emitted fromthe start switch 57, and outputted to the CPU 50.

A description will be made of the reel freely rotatably provided on aback surface side of the lower liquid crystal display 4 in an inside ofthe cabinet 2 and a detailed structure of the lower liquid crystaldisplay 4 based on FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3(a) to (j). FIG. 2 is longitudinalcross-sectional views of the lower liquid crystal display 4 and the reel22, and FIGS. 3(a) to (j) are exploded perspective views of the lowerliquid crystal display 4.

In FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3(a) to (j), a transparent touch panel 30(hereinafter, referred to as a “touch panel 30”) is disposed on a frontsurface side (left side in FIG. 2) of the lower liquid crystal display4. An instrument front panel 20 is provided on the front center portionof the cabinet 2 (refer to FIG. 1), and the instrument front panel 20includes a display window portion 21. The lower liquid crystal display 4is disposed in an inside of the display window portion 21 together withthe touch panel 30. On the back surface side (right side in FIG. 2) ofthe lower liquid crystal display 4, the three reels 22 (only one thereofis shown in FIG. 2) are supported in a parallel-arrayed state so as tobe freely rotatable independently of one another. In the followingdescription, 22 is used as reference numeral when the three reels arenot distinguished from one another, and when the three reels aredistinguished, 22-1 is used as reference numeral of the first reel, 22-2is used as reference numeral of the second reel, and 22-3 is used asreference numeral of the third reel.

A description will be made of the respective reels 22. Among the threereels 22, the left reel 22-1 viewed from the front surface of the slotmachine 1 is opposed to a left display window 23 (refer to FIG. 1)formed on the lower liquid crystal display 4. In a similar way, thesecond reel 22-2 is opposed to a center display window 24 (refer toFIG. 1) formed on the lower liquid crystal display 4. In a similar way,the third reel 22-3 is opposed to a right display window 25 (refer toFIG. 1) formed on the lower liquid crystal display 4. Constructions ofthe respective display windows 23, 24 and 25 will be described later.

A variety of symbols are formed on a circumferential surface of each ofthe reels 22. Specifically, a WILD symbol, a 3 BAR symbol, a triggersymbol, a RED 7 symbol, a 2 BAR symbol, and a 1 BAR symbol are used asthe symbols formed on the circumferential surface of each reel 22 inassociation with contents of the game played in the slot machine 1. Onthe circumferential surface of each reel 22, these six types of symbolsand blanks (regions where the symbols are not present) are combinedbased on a predetermined combination, and totally 22 symbols and blanksare formed.

A variety of winning combinations are preset based on a plurality oftypes of combinations of the respective symbols. When a combination ofthe symbols, which corresponds to one of the winning combinations, isstopped on an activated payline L (refer to FIG. 1), coins are paid outfrom the coin payout port 15 in response to the winning combination. Inthis point, the slot machine 1 according to this embodiment is similarto the related slot machine, and a detailed description thereof will beomitted here. With regard to the formation of the variety of symbols onthe circumferential surface of each reel 22, a method is common, inwhich 11 symbols are printed in advance on a long seal which coincideswith each reel 22 in width and circumferential length, and such a sealis pasted on the circumference of each reel 22. However, as a matter ofcourse, it is also possible to form the symbols by methods other thanthe above.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the activated payline L isonly set on a centerline. When the game is played by rotating andstopping the respective reels 22 based on the depressions of the SPINbutton 12, the 3-BET button 13, and the 5-BET button 14 or on therotational movement of the start lever 17, such an activated payline Lis displayed on the lower liquid crystal display 4. Meanwhile, in thecase where the bonus game is played based on the depression of the 5-BETbutton 14 at the time when a variety of feature games to be describedlater are acquired, display of such an activated payline L is erasedfrom the lower liquid crystal display 4.

The above-described trigger symbol is the one which acts as a triggerfor acquiring the variety of feature games. In the embodiment of thepresent invention, one trigger symbol is provided for each of the firstreel 22-1, the second reel 22-2, and the third reel 22-3 so that it canbe possible to generate the feature game in each of the reels. In theembodiment of the present invention, symbols including characters of“YOU'VE GOT BONUS”, which are shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 are set as thetrigger symbols. The variety of feature games can be acquired based onthat the trigger symbols present on the circumferential surfaces of thereels 22 are stopped on the activated payline.

A description will be made of the structure of the lower liquid crystaldisplay 4 based on FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3(a) to (j). In FIG. 2 and FIGS.3(a) to (j), the lower liquid crystal display 4 is composed byarranging, from a front surface side of the slot machine 1, the touchpanel 30, a reel glass base 31, a bezel metal frame 32, a liquid crystalpanel 33, a liquid crystal holder 34, a diffusion sheet 35, a lightguide plate 36, a white reflector 37, a rear holder 38, and anantistatic sheet 39. In the diffusion sheet 35, opening portions 35A,35B and 35C are formed. In a similar way, in the light guide plate 36,the reflector 37, and the rear holder 38, opening portions 36A, 36B and36C, opening portions 37A, 37B and 37C, and opening portions 38A, 38Band 38C are formed, respectively, so as to coincide with the openingportions 35A to 35C. The respective opening portions 35A to 38A aresuperposed on one another so as to coincide with one another, therebyconstructing the left display window 23 (refer to FIG. 1). In a similarway, the respective opening portions 35B to 38B construct the centerdisplay window 24 (refer to FIG. 1). In a similar way, the respectiveopenings 35C to 38C construct the right display window 25 (refer to FIG.1).

The opening portions 35A to 35C of the diffusion sheet 35 and theopening portions 36A to 36C of the light guide plate 36 constructtransparent regions which ensure visibility of variable displays on therespective reels 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lower liquid crystal display 4 is attached ontothe display window portion 21 of the instrument front panel 20. Theattachment is performed by screwing the respective brackets 40 to a backsurface of the instrument front panel 20 by screws 41. The respectivebrackets 40 are provided on the reel glass base 31 in a manner ofprotruding vertically therefrom.

On upper and lower ends of the light guide plate 36, a pair of coldcathode tubes 42 are provided as light sources of the liquid crystalpanel 33. On upper and lower portions on a back surface side of therespective opening portions 38A to 38C of the rear holder 38, a pair ofcold cathode tubes 43 which illuminate the symbols formed on the outercircumferential surfaces of the respective reels 22 are provided.

The liquid crystal panel 33 is a transparent electrical display panelmade of ITO or the like, which is disposed on front surfaces of therespective reels 22, and through which the respective reels are seen. Aback surface side of a periphery of a display portion of the liquidcrystal panel 33 is held by the liquid crystal holder 34. The lightguide plate 36 is formed of a light transmitting resin panel. On thelight guide plate 36, lens cut which guides light emitted from the coldcathode tubes 42 located on the side portions thereof to the backsurface side of the liquid crystal panel 33 is formed. The diffusionsheet 35 is formed of a light transmitting resin sheet. The diffusionsheet 35 diffuses the light guided by the light guide plate 36, anduniforms the light irradiated onto the liquid crystal panel 33. Thediffusion sheet 35, the light guide plate 36, and the liquid crystalholder 34 which holds the liquid crystal panel 33 are integratedtogether, and peripheries thereof are inserted into the bezel metalframe 32. By such insertion, the front surface side of the displayportion on the liquid crystal panel 33 is held by the bezel metal frame32.

With regard to the liquid crystal holder 34, the diffusion sheet 35, andthe light guide plate 36, which are fitted to the bezel metal frame 32and are integrated together, the peripheries thereof are furtherinserted into the reel glass base 31, and are held by the reel glassbase 31 in a state where a front display surface of the liquid crystalpanel 33 is opened. The reel glass base 31 is attached onto theinstrument front panel 20 through the screws 41. Thus, the touch panel30 is brought into pressure contact with a front surface of the reelglass base 31, and is superposed on the front surface of the displayportion of the liquid crystal panel 33.

The rear holder 38 is composed of a white resin plate, and holds thebezel metal frame 32 supported by the reel glass base 31, the liquidcrystal holder 34 supported by the liquid crystal panel 33, thediffusion sheet 35, and the light guide plate 36 from back sidesthereof. The rear holder 38 also functions as a light reflector whichreflects, to the liquid crystal panel 33 side, the light emitted fromthe cold cathode tubes 42 to the light guide plate 36. The antistaticsheet 39 is transparent, is adhered to a back surface of the rear holder38 by a double-faced tape, and covers back surfaces of the respectiveopening portions 38A to 38C formed in the rear holder 38.

A description will be made of a construction regarding a control systemof the slot machine 1 based on FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a block diagramschematically showing the control system of the slot machine 1.

In FIG. 4, the control system of the slot machine 1 is basicallycomposed while taking the CPU 50 as a main component. A ROM 51 and a RAM52 are connected to the CPU 50. The ROM 51 stores a game control programto be described later, a variety of effect programs for performing avariety of effects on the upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lowerliquid crystal display 4 as the game is going on, a sortition table fordrawing the variety of winning combinations, other various programs,data tables and the like, which are necessary to control the slotmachine 1. The RAM 52 is a memory which temporarily stores various dataarithmetically operated by the CPU 50.

A clock pulse generating circuit 53 which generates a reference clockpulse and a frequency divider 54 are connected to the CPU 50. Moreover,a random number generator 55 which generates random numbers and a randomnumber sampling circuit 56 are connected to the CPU 50. The randomnumbers sampled by the random number sampling circuit 56 are used forvarious sortitions for the winning combination, the effect, and thelike. To the CPU 50, there are individually connected the start switch57 additionally provided to the start lever 17, the SPIN switch 58additionally provided to the SPIN button 12, the 1-BET switch 59additionally provided to the 1-BET button 11, the 3-BET switch 60additionally provided to the 3-BET switch 13, the 5-BET switch 61additionally provided to the 5-BET switch 14, the CHANGE switch 62additionally provided to the CHANGE button 6, the CASH-OUT switch 62additionally provided to the CASH-OUT button 7, and the HELP switch 64additionally provided to the HELP button 8. The CPU 50 performs controlsbased on the switching signals outputted from the respective switches bythe depressions thereof in order to execute a variety of operationscorresponding to the respective buttons.

To the CPU 50, there are individually connected the coin sensor 65disposed in the coin insertion portion 9, and the bill sensor 66disposed in the bill insertion portion 10. The coin sensor 65 detectsthe coins inserted from the coin insertion portion 9, and outputs a coindetection signal. The CPU 50 arithmetically operates the number ofinserted coins based on the coin detection signal outputted from thecoin sensor 65. The bill sensor 66 detects a type and amount of the billinserted from the bill insertion portion 10, and outputs a billdetection signal. The CPU 50 arithmetically operates the number of coinsequivalent to the amount of bill based on the bill detection signaloutputted from the bill sensor 66.

To the CPU 50, a plurality (in this example, three) of stepping motors68 which rotate the respective reels 22 through a motor driving circuit67 are connected. When a motor driving signal (command pulse) isoutputted from the CPU 50 to the motor driving circuit 67, therespective stepping motors 68 are rotationally driven by excitationsignals outputted from the motor driving circuit 67 to perform rotationsof the respective reels 22. The CPU 50 counts the number of drivingpulses supplied to the respective stepping motors 68. The CPU 50 graspsrotational positions of the symbols on the respective reels 22 based onthe counted number of driving pulses, and performs a control for stoppedpositions thereof, and the like.

A reel position detecting circuit 69 is connected to the CPU 50. Thereel position detecting circuit 69 detects changes of the stoppedpositions of the respective reels 22 after being controlled to bestopped by the motor driving circuit 67. For example, the reel positiondetecting circuit 69 detects such changes of the stopped positions ofthe reels 22 in such a case where the stopped positions are forciblychanged by a player so as to bring a combination of the stoppingsymbols, which becomes the winning combination, though the actualcombination of the stopped symbols is not the combination of the stoppedsymbols, which becomes the winning combination. The reel positiondetecting circuit 69 is composed so as to be capable of detecting thechanges of the stopped positions of the reels 22, for example, bydetecting fins attached to inner portions of the reels 22 at apredetermined interval.

A hopper 71 is connected to the CPU 50 through a hopper driving circuit70. When a driving signal is outputted from the CPU 50 to the hopperdriving circuit 70, the hopper 71 pays out a predetermined number of thecoins from the coin payout port 15.

The coin detecting unit 73 is connected to the CPU 50 through a payoutcomplete signal circuit 72. The coin detecting unit 73 is disposed in aninside of the coin payout port 15. When the coin detecting unit 73detects that the predetermined number of coins are paid out from thecoin payout port 15, a coin payout detection signal is outputted fromthe coin detecting unit 73 to the payout complete signal circuit 72.Based on the coin payout detection signal, the payout complete signalcircuit 72 outputs a payout complete signal to the CPU 50.

The upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquid crystal display4 are connected to the CPU 50 through a liquid crystal driving circuit74. The upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquid crystaldisplay 4 are controlled by the CPU 50. As shown in FIG. 5, the liquidcrystal driving circuit 74 is composed of a program ROM 81, an image ROM82, an image control CPU 83, a work RAM 84, a video display processor(VDP) 85, a video RAM 86, and the like.

In FIG. 5, in the program ROM 81, an image control program and a varietyof selection tables, which relate to the displays on the upper liquidcrystal display 3 and the lower liquid crystal display 4, are stored. Inthe image ROM 82, for example, dot data and the like for forming imageson the upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquid crystaldisplay 4 are stored. The image control CPU 83 decides the images to bedisplayed on the upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquidcrystal display 4 among the dot data prestored in the image ROM 82. Theimage control CPU 83 performs such a storing action based on a parameterset by the CPU 50 in accordance with the image control program prestoredin the program ROM 81. The work RAM 84 is a temporal storage unit whenthe image control program is executed in the image control CPU 83. TheVDP 85 generates image data corresponding to display contents decided bythe image control CPU 83, and outputs the generated image data to theupper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquid crystal display 4.The video RAM 86 is a temporal storage unit when the image is generatedin the VDP 85.

The touch panel 30 is connected to the CPU 50 through a touch paneldriving circuit 76.

An LED 78 is connected to the CPU 50 through an LED driving circuit 77.The LED 78 is the one which is controlled to be turned on by the LEDdriving circuit 77 based on a drive signal from the CPU 50 when a largenumber thereof is arrayed on the front face of the slot machine 1 andperforms the variety of effects. A sound output circuit 79 and a speaker80 are connected to the CPU 50. The speaker 80 is the one whichgenerates a variety of sound effects in the case of performing thevariety of effects based on an output signal from the sound outputcircuit 79.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the CPU 50 decides ageneration of the feature game (winning of the combination) for each ofthe reels 22-1, 22-2 and 22-3, and is composed so as to be capable ofgenerating the feature game in each of the three reels 22-1, 22-2 and22-3. Hence, three feature games to the maximum can be generated beforethe base game is ended. It is possible to increase and decrease thegenerated number of feature games in response to the number of reels.

In the case of determining that the feature game is won for the reel 22(for example, the reel 22-1) in which the varying and the displaying arestopped, the CPU 50 starts the won feature game while the other reels(for example, the reels 22-2 and 22-3) are under the varying anddisplaying and before the base game is ended.

In the embodiment of the present invention, three feature games aregenerated to the maximum. Progressive narrativity may be given to therespective feature games by giving relativity to the contents of effectsthereof. Alternatively, the contents of the effects may be independentof one another free from the relativity of the contents of the effectsamong the feature games. In the embodiment of the present invention, therelativity is given to the contents of the effects of the three featuregames. As an example, a description will be made below of a royal museumgame in which three stages of a first mission, a second mission, and afinal mission are prepared.

A description will be made of the contents of the effects of the royalmuseum game with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 8. FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 areexplanatory views schematically showing background images displayed onthe upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquid crystal display4 in the case of playing a ROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUS game. FIG. 6 is anexplanatory view schematically showing background images displayed onthe upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquid crystal display4 in the case of playing the first mission of the ROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUSgame. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view schematically showing backgroundimages displayed on the upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lowerliquid crystal display 4 in the case of playing the second mission ofthe ROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUS game. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view schematicallyshowing background images displayed on the upper liquid crystal display3 and the lower liquid crystal display 4 in the case of playing thefinal mission of the ROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUS game.

FIG. 6 illustrates a state where the trigger symbol of the feature gameappears on the first reel 22-1 in which the varying and the displayingare first stopped and the contents of the effect relating to the firstmission are displayed on the upper liquid crystal display 3 and thelower liquid crystal display 4. In this case, the second reel 22-2 andthe third reel 22-3 are under the varying and the displaying. Theentirety of the royal museum is displayed on the upper liquid crystaldisplay 3, and the player is notified that the feature game of the firstmission is acquired. On the lower liquid crystal display 4, threeinvasion ports for invading the royal museum are displayed. The playerselects any of a CHIMNEY, a MAIN ENTRANCE, and a BACK DOOR, which arethe three invasion ports. When the invasion port selected by the playerthrough the touch panel 30 is a predetermined invasion port predecidedby a sortition, an effect (not shown) where the player succeeds in theinvasion is displayed on the upper liquid crystal display 3, and theplayer is awarded with a predecided premium (for example, a predecidednumber of coins). When the other invasion ports than the invasion portpredecided by the sortition are selected, an effect (not shown) wherethe player fails in the invasion is displayed on the upper liquidcrystal display 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates a state where the contents of the effect relating tothe second mission are displayed on the upper liquid crystal display 3and the lower liquid crystal display 4. Here, a setting is provided,where the first reel 22-1 has already been stopped, the third reel 22-3is under the varying and the displaying, and the trigger symbol appearson the second reel 22-2 statically displayed this time. On the upperliquid crystal display 3, a policeman standing on a corridor of theroyal museum is displayed, and the player is notified that the featuregame of the second mission is acquired. On the lower liquid crystaldisplay 4, three items for making an escape from the policeman aredisplayed. The player selects any of an ESCAPE ROPE, a PICTURE FRAME,and a SLING SHOT, which are the three items. When the item selected bythe player through the touch panel 30 is a predetermined item predecidedby a sortition, an effect (not shown) where the player succeeds in theescape from the policeman is displayed on the upper liquid crystaldisplay 3, and the player is awarded with a predecided premium (forexample, a predecided number of coins). When the other items than theitem predecided by the sortition are selected, an effect (not shown)where the player is arrested by the policeman is displayed on the upperliquid crystal display 3.

FIG. 8 illustrates a state where the contents of the effect relating tothe final mission are displayed on the upper liquid crystal display 3and the lower liquid crystal display 4. A setting is provided, where thefirst reel 22-1 and the second reel 22-2 have already been stopped andthe first mission game and the second mission game have been played, andthe trigger symbol of the feature game appears also on the third reel22-3 by this stop of the varying and displaying of the third reel 22-3.On the upper liquid crystal display 3, a crown housed in a case isdisplayed, and the player is notified that the feature game of the finalmission is acquired. On the lower liquid crystal display 4, a first key(SPADE), a second key (DIAMOND), and a third key (HEART), which havemutually different shapes, are displayed as three items for acquiringthe crown, are displayed. When one of the keys, which is selected by theplayer through the touch panel 30, is a predetermined key predecided bya sortition, an effect (not shown) where the player succeeds in openingthe case by the key and acquiring the crown is displayed on the upperliquid crystal display 3, and the player is awarded with a predecidedpremium (for example, a predetermined number of coins). When the otherkeys than the key predecided by the sortition are selected, an effect(not shown) where the player cannot open the case by the key and givesup acquiring the crown is displayed on the upper liquid crystal display3.

Here, with regard to the premium given when the invasion is successfulin the first mission, the premium given when the escape is successful inthe second mission, and the premium given when the crown is acquired inthe final mission, the payouts thereof are set to be gradually higher inthis order. In such a way, expectations of the player can be increased.

When the player fails in the invasion in the first mission game, thefirst mission game may also be executed again in the next feature game.Specifically, a stage of the mission game may be raised under acondition where the selection object predecided by the sortition isselected.

A description will be made of a procedure of a game control performed inthe slot machine 1 constructed as described above based on FIG. 9 toFIG. 13.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the game controlperformed in the slot machine 1. Upon starting a main process, the slotmachine 1 (more specifically, the CPU 50) first executes a startreceiving process (Step (hereinafter, abbreviated as “S”) 1). Thisprocess is a process of receiving the switching signal outputted fromthe SPIN switch 58, the 1-BET switch 59, the 3-BET switch 60, or the5-BET switch 61 based on the operation of the SPIN button 12, theoperation of the 1-BET button 11, the operation of the 3-BET button 13,or the operation of the 5-BET button 14. Upon the receipt of theswitching signal outputted from each switch, the game is started.

Next, in the slot machine 1, a sortition process regarding the base gameis performed (S2). As shown in FIG. 10, in the sortition process, theCPU 50 first performs a random number sampling process (S51). Thisrandom number sampling process is a process where the CPU 50 samples arandom number through the random number sampling circuit 56.Subsequently to the random number sampling process, the CPU 50 executesa combination determination process (S52). This combinationdetermination process is a process of comparing the random numbersampled as described above with the previously prepared sortition tablewhich describes correspondence relationships between the random numbersand the combinations (including a losing), thereby deciding acombination corresponding to the sampled random number.

For example, this sortition table is a table which describes thefollowing correspondence relationships. Specifically, random numbervalues 1 to 10 correspond to a combination “FEATURE GAME” for the firstreel 22-1. Random number values 11 to 20 correspond to a combination“FEATURE GAME” for the second reel 22-2. Random number values 21 to 30correspond to a combination “FEATURE GAME” for the third reel 22-3.Random number values 31 to 40 correspond to a combination “ALL SEVEN”.In a similar way to the above, the other random number values correspondto the other combinations, and finally, random number values 341 to 1024correspond to the combination “LOSING”. The above-described combination“ALL SEVEN” corresponds to the case where the symbols stopped on theactivated payline L are entirely the symbols “SEVEN”.

Here, at the same time when the “FEATURE GAME” is drawn by the randomnumber value, the premium for each selection object (three types ofinvasion ports, three type of escape items, or three types of keys) isadapted to be decided by the random number value concerned. For example,in the above-described example, if the random number is any of 1 to 10,then the combination “FEATURE GAME” for the first reel 22-1 is won, andthe following setting is provided in this case. Specifically, if therandom number value is within a range of 1 to 3 among 1 to 10, then thepremium (payout owing to the mission success) is given to CHIMNEY, andno premium is given to MAIN ENTRANCE or BACK DOOR, which are the otherselection objects. If the random number value is within a range of 4 to6 among 1 to 10, then a setting is provided, in which the premium(payout owing to the mission success) is given to MAIN ENTRANCE, and nopremium is given to the other selection objects. If the random numbervalue is within a range of 7 to 10 among 1 to 10, then a setting isprovided, in which the premium (payout owing to the mission success) isgiven to BACK DOOR, and no premium is given to the other selectionobjects. In a similar way to the above, also with regard to the “FEATUREGAMES” of the second reel 22-2 and the third reel 22-3, the premiums aredecided for the respective selection objects (ESCAPE ROPE, PICTUREFRAME, SLING SHOT, first key (SPADE), second key (DIAMOND), and thirdkey (HEART)).

Subsequently to the combination determination process (S52), the CPU 50executes a stopping symbol decision process (S53). This stopping symboldecision process is a process of deciding the symbols to be staticallydisplayed on the activated payline L for each of the reels 22-1 to 22-3.Specifically, the CPU 50 decides code numbers of the stopping symbolsfor the respective reels 22-1 to 22-3 so that the combination of thesymbols, which corresponds to the decided combination, can beestablished on the active payline L. After the stopping symbol decisionprocess (S53) is ended, the CPU 50 returns to the main process shown inFIG. 9, and then proceeds to abase game process.

In FIG. 9, S3 to S9 show process contents of the base game process.First, the CPU 50 executes a rotation process of starting the rotationsof the first reel 22-1, the second reel 22-2, and the third reel 22-3 inthe cabinet 2 based on the switching signal outputted from the SPINswitch 58, the 1-BET switch 59, the 3-BET switch 60, or the 5-BET switch61 (S3). In this case, the switching signal is received in theabove-described start receiving process (S1). By the rotation process,the varying and displaying of the respective symbols are performed onthe respective display windows 23, 24 and 25.

Next, the CPU 50 executes a stopping control process of sequentiallystopping the rotations of the three reels 22-1, 22-2 and 22-3 in thecabinet 2 while differentiating a stopping time of each thereof from theothers (S4, S5, S6). This stopping control process is performed so as tostop, on the activated payline L, the stopping symbols decided in theabove-described sortition process (S2), and more specifically, in thestopping symbol decision process (S53).

Here, a description will be made on the assumption that the first reel22-1, the second reel 22-2, and the third reel 22-3 are stopped in thisorder. After the rotations of the reels are started, first, the rotationof the first reel 22-1 is stopped under the control of the CPU 50through the motor driving circuit 67, the stepping motor 68, and thereel position detecting circuit 69 (S4). Note that the stopping controlmay also be performed so as to sequentially stop the reels 22 from onethereof in which the feature game is generated in the sortition process(S2). When the first reel is stopped, the feature game is generated.Accordingly, by performing the stopping control as described above, suchexpectations can be given to the player, that the feature games will begenerated in the reel subsequent to the first reel and further in thereel subsequent thereto, and that the game will progress to featuregames with higher payouts. For example, when it is determined that thefeature game is generated only in the third reel 22-3, the third reel isfirst controlled to be stopped, and thereafter, the first reel 22-1 andthe second reel 22-2 are controlled to be stopped in this order whiledifferentiating the stopping time of each thereof from the other.

When the first reel 22-1 is stopped, the CPU 50 shifts to adetermination of the feature game in the first reel 22-1, which is shownin FIG. 11, while maintaining the rotations of the second reel 22-2 andthe third reel 22-3. The CPU 50 determines whether or not a decision ismade so as to stop the trigger symbol serving as a transition trigger tothe feature game on the display window 23 of the first reel 22-1 in thesteps of S2 and S53 described above (S21). In the case of determiningthat the trigger symbol is decided to appear, that is, the feature gameas a bonus is decided to be generated, the CPU 50 executes the firstmission game as the first stage of the ROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUS game, whichshows the contents of the effects shown in FIG. 6, while maintaining therotations of the second reel 22-2 and the third reel 22-3 (S22).

The CPU 50 reads out, from the ROM 51, the image data for displaying theeffects of the first mission game, controls the liquid crystal drivingcircuit 74 to display the image data for the effects, thereby displayingthe effects on the upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquidcrystal display 4. In the embodiment of the present invention, as shownin FIG. 6, the three invasion ports serving as the selection objects aredisplayed on the lower liquid crystal display 4 so as not to beoverlapped with the display windows 23, 24 and 25 which statically orvariably display the symbols of the respective reels 22. When the playerselects an arbitrary invasion port through the touch panel 30, the CPU50 determines the selected invasion port based on the input signal fromthe touch panel driving circuit 76, and progresses the next effectdisplay. Specifically, when the predetermined invasion port predecidedby the sortition process of S2 described above is selected, the CPU 50reads out, from the ROM 51, image data of the contents of the effectwhere the player succeeds in the invasion on the upper liquid crystaldisplay 3, and displays the read image data on the upper liquid crystaldisplay 3. When the invasion port other than the invasion portpredecided by the sortition process is selected, the CPU 50 reads out,from the ROM 51, image data of the contents of the effect where theplayer fails in the invasion on the upper liquid crystal display 3, anddisplays the read image data on the upper liquid crystal display 3.

The CPU 50 determines whether or not the player has selected thepredecided invasion port in the first mission game (S23). In the case ofdetermining that the player has selected the predecided invasion port,the CPU 50 adds, to the RAM 52, a payout amount (for example, the numberof coins) imparted to the invasion port concerned (S24). When the playerhas succeeded in the invasion in the above-described first mission game,the CPU 50 raises a flag indicating that the first mission game iscompleted, and ends the feature game concerned.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, after an elapse of a predetermined time afterthe first reel 22-1 is stopped, the CPU 50 stops the second reel 22-2(S5). After stopping the second reel 22-2, the CPU 50 shifts to adetermination of the feature game for the second reel 22-2, which isshown in FIG. 12, while maintaining the rotation of the third reel 22-3.Then, the CPU 50 determines whether or not the feature game is decidedto be generated for the second reel 22-2 in the above-described S2 andS33 (S31). When the CPU 50 determines that the feature game is generatedfor the second reel 22-2, the trigger symbol serving as the transitiontrigger to the feature game appears on the display window 24 of thesecond reel 22-2. In the case of determining that the feature game as abonus is decided to be generated on the second reel 22-2, the CPU 50starts the ROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUS game while maintaining the rotation of thethird reel 22-3. First, the CPU 50 determines which stage of theROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUS game is to be executed (S32). Specifically, if theflag indicating that the first mission game is completed is not raised,then the CPU 50 executes the first mission game (S33). When the flag israised, the CPU 50 executes the second mission game (S34).

In the case of determining that the flag indicating that the firstmission game is completed is raised, the CPU 50 reads out, from the ROM51, the image data for displaying the effects of the second missiongame, controls the liquid crystal driving circuit 74 to display theimage data concerned as the effects concerned, thereby displaying theeffects on the upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquidcrystal display 4. In the embodiment of the present invention, as shownin FIG. 7, the three items serving as the selection objects aredisplayed on the lower liquid crystal display 4 so as not to beoverlapped with the display windows 23, 24 and 25 which statically orvariably display the symbols of the respective reels 22. When the playerselects an arbitrary escape item through the touch panel 30, the CPU 50determines the selected item based on the input signal from the touchpanel driving circuit 76, and progresses the next effect display.Specifically, when the predetermined item predecided by the sortitionprocess of S2 described above is selected, the CPU 50 reads out, fromthe ROM 51, image data of the contents of the effect where the playercan escape from the policeman without being caught thereby on the upperliquid crystal display 3, and displays the read image data on the upperliquid crystal display 3. When the item other than the predecided itemis selected, the CPU 50 reads out, from the ROM 51, image data of thecontents of the effect where the player is caught by the policeman onthe upper liquid crystal display 3, and displays the read image data onthe upper liquid crystal display 3.

In the case of determining that the player has selected the predecideditem in the second mission game (S35), the CPU 50 adds, to the RAM 52, apayout amount (for example, the number of coins) imparted to the itemconcerned (S36). When the player has succeeded in the mission in theabove-described second mission game, the CPU 50 raises a flag indicatingthat the second mission game is completed, and ends the feature gameconcerned.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, after an elapse of a predetermined time afterthe second reel 22-2 is stopped, the CPU 50 stops the third reel 22-3(S6). After stopping the third reel 22-3, the CPU 50 shifts to adetermination of the feature game for the third reel 22-3, which isshown in FIG. 13. Then, the CPU 50 determines whether or not the featuregame is decided to be generated for the third reel 22-3 in theabove-described S2 and S33 (S41). When the third reel 22-3 wins thefeature game, the trigger symbol serving as the transition trigger tothe feature game appears on the display window 25 of the third reel22-3. In the case of determining that the feature game as a bonus isdecided to be generated on the third reel 22-3, the CPU 50 starts theROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUS game. First, the CPU 50 determines which stage of theROYAL-MUSEUM-BONUS game is to be executed (S42, S44). Specifically, inthe case of determining that the flag indicating that the first missiongame is completed is not raised, the CPU 50 shifts to S43, and executesthe first mission game (S43). Meanwhile, in the case of determining thatthe flag indicating that the first mission game is completed is raised,the CPU 50 further determines whether or not the flag indicating thatthe second mission game is completed is raised (S44). In the case ofdetermining that the flag indicating that the second mission game iscompleted is not raised, the CPU 50 shifts to S45, and executes thesecond mission game (S45). Meanwhile, in the case of determining thatthe flag indicating that the second mission game is completed is raised,the CPU 50 shifts to S46, and executes the final mission game (S46).

In the case of determining in S44 that the flag indicating that thesecond mission game is completed is raised, the CPU 50 reads out, fromthe ROM 51, the image data for displaying the effects of the finalmission game, controls the liquid crystal driving circuit 74 to displaythe image data concerned as the effects concerned, thereby displayingthe effects on the upper liquid crystal display 3 and the lower liquidcrystal display 4. In this example, as shown in FIG. 8, the three keysserving as the selection objects are displayed on the lower liquidcrystal display 4 so as not to be overlapped with the display windows23, 24 and 25 which statically or variably display the symbols of therespective reels 22. When the player selects an arbitrary key throughthe touch panel 30, the CPU 50 determines the selected key based on theinput signal from the touch panel driving circuit 76, and progresses thenext effect display. Specifically, when the predetermined key predecidedby the sortition process of S2 described above is selected, the CPU 50reads out, from the ROM 51, image data of the contents of the effect(not shown) where the case which houses the crown is opened and theplayer acquires the crown on the upper liquid crystal display 3, anddisplays the read image data on the upper liquid crystal display 3. Whenthe key other than the key predecided by the sortition process isselected, the CPU 50 reads out, from the ROM 51, image data of thecontents of the effect (not shown) where the player cannot open the caseby the key and fails in acquiring the crown on the upper liquid crystaldisplay 3, and displays the read image data on the upper liquid crystaldisplay 3.

In the case of determining that the player has selected the keypredecided by the sortition process in the final mission game, the CPU50 decides that the bonus is to be added (S47), and adds, to the RAM 52,a payout amount (for example, the number of coins) imparted to the keyconcerned (S48).

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, after the third reel 22-3 is stopped, the CPU50 determines whether or not the combination of the base game is won(S7). When the combination is won, the CPU 50 executes an additionprocess of temporarily adding coins equivalent to a preset payout topayout-scheduled coins in accordance with the combination of the symbolsof the winning combination, which are statically displayed on therespective display windows 23 to 25 (S8). The payout-scheduled coins arestored in the RAM 52. When the combination is not won, the CPU 50returns the process to the start receiving process (S1), and preparesfor the start of the next game.

Next, the CPU 50 performs a payout process of collectively ejectingcoins equivalent to the number of payouts added to the payout-scheduledcoins in the addition process (S8) in the base game process and in theaddition processes (S24, S36, S48) in the feature games for each of thereels or newly adding the coins equivalent to the number of payouts tothe number of credits owned by the player (S9). After performing thepayout process, the CPU 50 returns the process to the start receivingprocess (S1), and prepares for the start of the next game.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, the feature games are drawn for each of the reels, and thefeature games of which maximum number corresponds to the number of reelsare made generable in one base game. Accordingly, the number of featuregames acquirable in one base game can be increased, and opportunities toacquire the payouts can be offered to the player any times until onebase game is ended.

If the feature game is generated on the reel stopped previously, thenthe feature game concerned is started even if the other reels 22 areunder the varying and the displaying. Accordingly, the player can enjoythe feature game at an early stage before all the reels are stopped,thus making it possible to enhance interest of the game.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the three invasionports serving as the selection objects are displayed on the lower liquidcrystal display 4 so as not to be overlapped with the display windows23, 24 and 25 which statically or variably display the symbols of therespective reels 22. Accordingly, when the feature game is started aftershifting to the feature game while a part of the variable display unitsis under the varying and displaying, the variable display units underthe varying and displaying can be prevented from becoming invisible bythe selection objects serving as the effects of the feature game.

The present invention is not the one limited to the above-describedembodiment. For the present invention, various alterations are possiblewithin the scope without departing from the gist thereof. Sizes andshapes of the respective constituents of the gaming machine according tothe present invention are not limited to those according to theabove-described embodiment, which are shown in the accompanyingdrawings. It is possible to appropriately change the sizes and theshapes within the scope where the effects of the present invention areexerted. In addition, it is possible to appropriately change and embodythe other elements than the above within the scope without departingfrom the scope of the object of the present invention. A modificationexample of the present invention is illustrated below.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made of theslot machine 1, in which the three reels 22 are provided in the cabinet2, and the activated payline L is set to be one. However, it is possibleto arbitrarily set the number of reels 22 and the number of activatedpaylines L. In the above-described embodiment, the description has beenmade of the case where the stopping symbols of the left, right andcenter reels 22, which are three in total, are decided by one randomnumber. However, one random number may also be sampled for each of theleft, center and right reels 22, which are three. Then, it may bedecided for each of the reels 22 whether or not the feature game isgenerated, and the stopping symbols may be decided for each of the reels22.

Moreover, the description has been made of the above-describedembodiment by using the coins as examples of the gaming media. However,the game media are not limited to the coins, and any game media can beemployed as long as the player can thereby play the game in the slotmachine 1. In particular, when the player receives the payout of thegame media acquired by the game, the player may also receive the payoutby a magnetic card which records the amount of acquired game media or areceipt on which the amount of game media concerned is printed. Theamount of game media to be paid out may also be managed by a serverwhich manages information regarding the slot machine 1.

The description has been made of the case of using the sortition tablewhich describes the correspondence relationships between the randomnumbers and the respective winning combinations in the sortition (forexample, the sortition performed in the sortition process) performed inthe slot machine 1 according to the above-described embodiment. However,the contents of the sortition are not limited to those of theabove-described sortition table. With regard to the contents registeredin the sortition table, the random numbers and the winning combinationsmay also be associated with each other in a one-to-one relationship, orthe random numbers and the winning combinations may also be associatedwith each other in a plurality-to-one relationship. Alternatively, notthe correspondence relationships between the random numbers and thewinning combinations but correspondence relationships between the randomnumbers and the symbols formed on the reels may also be described inadvance in the sortition table, and the symbols to be stopped may bethus decided for each of the reels. In this case, it is considered touse the code number assigned to each of the symbols. The winningcombinations may also be decided not by directly using the randomnumbers for use in the sortition but in response to results ofarithmetic operations, which are obtained by performing a predeterminedarithmetic operation process for the random numbers.

1. A gaming machine, comprising: a plurality of variable display unitsconfigured to variably display a plurality of types of symbols when afirst game is started; a stopping symbol decision unit configured todecide the symbols to be stopped in the first game, and to decide foreach of the variable display units whether or not a second game is to begenerated; a stopping control unit configured to stop varying anddisplaying of the variable display units based on a result of thedecision by the stopping symbol decision unit; and a second gamegenerating unit configured to, when determining that the second game isdecided to be generated by the stopping symbol decision unit for thevariable display unit of which varying and displaying are stopped, startthe second game for the variable display unit while continuing thevarying and displaying of the other variable display units.
 2. Thegaming machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a selectionobject display unit configured to, when the second game is started,display a plurality of selection objects to be selected by a player on aregion that is not overlapped with the variable display units under thevarying and displaying.
 3. A method of controlling a gaming machine,comprising: starting a first game, and variably displaying a pluralityof types of symbols on a plurality of variable display units; decidingthe symbols to be stopped in the first game, and deciding for each ofthe variable display units whether or not a second game is to begenerated; stopping varying and displaying of the variable display unitsbased on a result of the decision by the step of deciding the symbols tobe stopped; and when determining that the second game is decided to begenerated, by the step of deciding the symbols to be stopped, for thevariable display unit of which varying and displaying are stopped ,starting the second game for the variable display unit while continuingthe varying and displaying of the other variable display units.
 4. Themethod of controlling a gaming machine according to claim 3, furthercomprising: when the second game is started, displaying a plurality ofselection objects to be selected by a player on a region that is notoverlapped with the variable display units under the varying anddisplaying.